A Night to Remember
by Dixie-Filly
Summary: My take on what happens the night Ichiru returns and Yagari is injured protecting his student. Lots of sarcasm ahead as Cross forces Yagari to go seek medical attention in the early hours of the morning against his will while trying to maintain his sanity. Vampire hunters don't take well to humbling circumstances.


**Just a little drabble I thought of that takes place after the Ichiru incident in season one :) Fluffyness and stuff like that...**

A few wisps of straw colored hair fluttered in the air as Kaien Cross sighed heavily, his long and slender fingers finishing up bandaging the still bleeding wound that adorned his old friend's shoulder. A frown crossed his ageless face at the way the deep wound continued to keep bleeding through his attempt to staunch its flow. However, the reason the ex hunter's chest felt like it was filled with heavy sand wasn't necessarily because of his comrade's injury, but because of the dark and wounded look in the younger man's single blue eye that continued to stare blankly ahead.

"This isn't your fault you know," Cross said lightly, mentally preparing himself for the raven haired hunter's sharp remarks as he secured the makeshift bandage in place.

"Hmph," was the half hearted mutter he got in reply, and in that moment Cross almost wished the short tempered Yagari would yell at him for daring to open his mouth about what had just happened. Instead he sat rather lifelessly on the edge of the bed in the guest room, avoiding Cross's sympathetic and worried gaze by staring at the ground.

Kaien knew very well that the no nonsense Yagari was a man of few words, but the crushing silence that hung in the little room signaled to him that the man sitting before him was far from ok. "Um, Toga…are you sure you're alright?" Cross asked awkwardly as he sat back in his chair in front of the wounded hunter. Besides Yagari's rather lifeless demeanor, the older man noticed he had begun to be a bit on the pale side.

"I'm fine…Kaien," the hunter tersely bit out, pausing to wince as his increased breathing seemed to make his wound throb. Somehow in the back of his mind, he hadn't thought having a blade run through him would hurt quite this bad.

"Right," Cross sighed while standing, his overly eccentric persona fading into his true self as a weight settled on his shoulders. "Well, this is all I can do for now and you need to lie down and keep still," he said, his voice becoming deeper. The change in his often irritating friend's voice brought Yagari to flick his eye up at the older hunter. "I'm going to speak with Kaname and then I'm seeing to Zero," he said as he turned to leave, the green shawl around his shoulders swishing with the movement. "And when I get back…" the Headmaster said as he turned the knob on the door, Yagari still slouching on the bed, "I'm taking you to the hospital to have that wound seen about," the blond finished.

That last statement brought a new spark of life to raven haired man as his eye widened and his face paled even more. ""Kaien, I'm not go…" he began to vehemently protest from his seat across the room.

"Yes you are," Cross cut him off firmly without looking back before closing the door behind him, leaving the top ranked vampire hunter alone and positively fuming.

* * *

"I don't know why you are putting up such a fight," Cross shook his head as he turned onto the highway from the long gravel road that led to the school. "You are in a mess," he said while glancing at his thoroughly unhappy passenger. The dark haired man was leaned back slightly in the seat still in his dark jeans and boots, his leather duster draped around his bare torso since getting into a shirt was not an option at the moment.

The said hunter rolled his eye and scoffed. "I would have been fine if you had left me alone," Yagari grumbled before trying to shift, only to end up hissing a stream of curse words as his shoulder and chest throbbed even more.

"Uh huh, you would be fine huh?" Cross sighed tiredly, eyeing the glowing clock that read 11:30 P.M. The headmaster knew he would be needing a lot of coffee to get through this night in one piece.

"You're annoying as hell Cross," Yagari grumbled, his hand running through his wavy locks as the wound seemed to begin to pulsate.

That snide little comment brought a slight grin to the older man's face, happy to see his comrade acting more like himself despite the fact he was still bleeding through the bandages.

"At least I'm not a baby about seeking medical attention," Cross grinned slyly.

"Shut up Kaien," was the terse retort the blond ex hunter got, his honey colored eyes shifting to see the raven haired man looking away from him and attempting to cross his arms, only to hiss again and drop them with an irritated huff.

* * *

Finally the two arrived at the hospital's emergency room parking lot right at midnight.

"Come on, you'll thank me later," Cross grinned softly as he opened the passenger door, only to be greeted by a cold glare from a single blue eye. "Here, let me help," Cross offered, but Yagari only pushed his hand away while awkwardly dragging himself out.

"I can take care of myself thank you," Yagari stated quickly, Cross inhaling deeply as he shut the door. If Cross so much as ghosted his fingers on the injured man to help him he was met with Yagari wrenching away each time.

"Oh boy," Cross whispered quietly while rubbing his temples after his last attempt to aid the nearly stumbling hunter.

"What was that?" the blond heard a dry remark as they neared the brightly lit doors.

"Nothing, nothing," Cross waved his hands sheepishly, Yagari glaring once again before continuing on. Of course when they got to the glass sliding doors that automatically opened, the younger man just stood staring at it rather pathetically. Cross was already nearly inside when he turned around to see his now pale friend stand panting slightly with that apprehensive look in his eye. "Come on Toga, you'll take on a level E without a second thought but you look like you're going to turn tail any second," Cross tried to prod the younger hunter along. "Unlike level E's, these people get paid to fix you, not kill you," Kaien smiled cheerily while walking up and taking Yagari's good arm, borderline dragging him through the door.

"Get your hands off me," the hunter grumbled as they finally made it inside, but Cross wasn't listening as he continued to pull him up to the receptionist's desk. The rosy cheeked middle aged woman who sat behind the desk quickly looked up as she heard the two approaching. Of course when she saw the taller of the two trickling blood with his skin the color of the off white walls, she wasted no time grabbing the attention of one of the nurses.

"Goodness," the thirty something year old woman with purple scrubs and her blond hair in a bun said as she saw the hunter's bleeding bandages. "You can deal with paperwork later, let's get you in a bed," she said as she motioned for the two to follow her. Cross could almost feel the raven haired hunter's tension rising as the nurse led him to one of the crisp white beds and pulled the curtains closed around them. After dropping his coat, the nurse helped the injured hunter to sit and then lie back on the bed. Cross had to bite his lip to keep from snickering as he caught an icy glare from Yagari, whose pride was taking quite the nose dive.

"So what happened here?" the nurse calmly asked as she busied herself with attaching a pulse/ox sensor to the hunter's finger and a blood pressure cuff around his arm. It took Cross a second to respond since he was trying not to laugh at the usually stoic Yagari's absolutely panicked expression.

"Oh, construction accident with some sheet metal," the blond said easily as if he had been plotting their excuse the whole time…which he had been. Cross saw relief in his friend's blue eye for a millisecond as the nurse listened to his heart and lungs, knowing full well thinking of a plausible explanation of the gaping wound was the last thing on Yagari's mind.

"Well you sure are lucky it didn't get you somewhere vital," the woman smiled as she jotted down notes on her clipboard. The older man shifted his comrade's coat in his hands to muffle the sound of him snickering at the way the gruff man pathetically tried to force the slightest grin toward the cheery nurse. Cross knew that the hunter wasn't an overly emotional man, but he wasn't cold hearted either, but his sad attempt at a small smile while his pride was at an all time low was a rare sight. "Ok then, I'm just going to get a little blood to run and then we'll see to getting you some fluids and pain meds," the woman smiled while tying a blue elastic band above the hunter's elbow. Cross could only smile nervously as Yagari stared him down rather coldly as the needle went into his vein. "Alright, this shouldn't take too long to run," the woman said as she placed a bandage over the small hole. "I'll be back in a minute, but in the meantime maybe your friend here can help you start on these annoying forms," she smiled while handing another clipboard to Cross, who grinned triumphantly. "You ok honey?" she asked the hunter before leaving, a wordless nod her reply before she slipped out from the curtains.

"Well isn't she nice," Cross said while clicking the pen and taking up the clipboard, beginning to fill out the many blanks that lined the page.

"Give it here, I can do it myself," Yagari exhaled while extending his good arm, only to have Cross completely brush him off.

"You just sit there and rest mister, I know you well enough to do this," Cross grinned impishly while still continuing to scribble on the papers.

"Dammit Kaien, give it here," the hunter raised his voice, the blond looking up with a cheeky grin still on his face.

"You know Toga, when you curse at me your heart rate goes up," the blond man sighed while eyeing the increasing green numbers on the screen that reflected his friend's heart rate.

"It wouldn't _do _that if _you _didn't make me want to punch your lights out," the raven haired man grumbled, knowing he wasn't going to win this one when he was stuck in a hospital bed.

"Violent as usual," Cross sighed again before flipping a page. "Are you on any medicines?" he asked the grumpy vampire hunter who had resigned himself to scowling while leaning back against the pillows since his shoulder was royally beginning to deal him a fit.

"No,"

"Have you been sick recently?"

"No,"

"Do you have a condition I don't know about?"

"Nope,"

The blond smiled when he got to the next set of questions. "Well I don't have to ask you this one," he laughed softly.

"What?" the hunter glowered at the grinning headmaster.

"Do you smoke…" Kaien said while shaking his head', the younger man rolling his eye irritably. "Like a train," the ex hunter muttered, which only engendered an annoyed huff from the injured man.

It wasn't long before the nurse returned, much to the hunter's chagrin, for the first thing she did was go about placing an IV catheter in his good arm. "You lost a good bit of blood so once we get some fluids in you, you should feel a lot better," the woman smiled as she taped the line in place. The hunter just sat wordlessly staring in the other direction and Cross could swear he saw the faintest blush crossing his lightly tanned cheeks. He knew Toga hated being weak more than anything and the gruff hunter was certainly not used to being in such a situation. Cross didn't think the man could look more deflated as the nurse hung a bag of fluids next to him, but he was wrong. The poor man's face became even more depressed when the nurse informed him that she needed him to "slip out of those jeans". For once the horrified look in Yagari's eye didn't cause the blond to laugh. For the top ranked vampire hunter, Cross understood that being asked to strip down to your underwear was quite an insult. "I'll let you do that while I go see about some pain meds for you ok," the nurse grinned before leaving, an awkward silence sitting between the two men for a moment.

"Out," the hunter muttered while forcing himself up.

"But…can you…" Cross began to protest but the raven haired man shot him a death glare that shut him up instantly. "Ok, ok…I'll be right outside if you need me," he sighed while slipping out. The headmaster could hear movement for a few minutes…but then it grew deathly quiet. Cross was about to ask his unhappy friend if he was alright when he heard one of the most pathetic sounds he had ever heard in his life.

"Cross…" Yagari's miserable voice called from behind the curtain, the blond smiling sympathetically to himself before turning around walking back through the curtain. The ex hunter really hoped that Ichiru Kiryu was grateful for his master's selfless act of protection, because the sight of the fearless hunter sitting white as the sheets on the edge of a hospital bed with his pants halfway down his long legs was rather sad.

"Get dizzy?" Kaien asked the hunter softly, the younger man's eyes riveted to the floor in embarrassment as he began to help his friend while trying to preserve what dignity Toga Yagari had left.

"Yeah," Cross was surprised to hear him reply quietly.

"Come on, lie back down and rest for a minute," the older man said as he finished and began to help the hunter lie down, this time the younger not resisting him. "You ok?" he asked while pulling the white sheets up to the hunter's chest, becoming a little worried at the way he remained so quiet and pale with his eye closed. Yagari nodded wordlessly, his eye cracking open as he moved his arm and the clear tube pulled. "It's a good thing we came," Cross said while leaning against the wall.

"Says you," the hunter muttered before falling quiet again.

* * *

The already long night seemed to drag into the early hours of the morning as the hunter went through having his wound cleaned…rather painfully, x-rays, and an MRI to assess the damage done to his shoulder. The fluids and pain meds had revived him enough that he sat scowling again as Cross sipped from a cup of coffee as they both waited for the doctor.

"How long has it been?" Yagari asked annoyed as Cross sat in a chair that had been provided for him.

"Almost two hours," the blond responded tiredly while pushing his glasses up.

"This is stupid," the other grumbled irritably.

"Well somebody is feeling better," Cross grinned slightly, glad to see his friend back to complaining as usual. Yagari shot his signature glare at the older man just as a slender man with greying hair and a white coat came through the curtains with a file in his hand.

"Hi, sorry for the long wait, it's been quite a night, I'm Dr. Williams," the doctor greeted while shaking both of the hunter's hands.

"I understand that," Cross made small talk with the white coated professional, since Yagari had once again taken up his unsettled look.

"Alright then," Dr. Williams began as he flipped open the file. "Unfortunately your shoulder blade was fractured from the impact, but that's not really my biggest concern," he said as he walked over to the hunter, who Cross noticed seemed to shrink back into the pillows. "I'm just going to take a look here," the doctor said while peeling away the covering from the angry wound, the hunter's face miserable again. "Can you lift the shoulder or arm at all?" he asked the panic stricken Yagari.

"Not really," the hunter quietly said after a feeble attempt to move his limb.

"Yeah, there's a good bit of muscle trauma and the MRI showed some tendon damage," the doctor said sympathetically. "As much as I would like to tell you to go home with some painkillers and everything will be fine…I think surgical intervention is necessary to ensure proper healing," Dr. Williams told the deathly silent hunter. "You're in luck though; our orthopedic surgeon is just finishing up so we can get you fixed up tonight," he smiled. "We'll get you in and out as soon as he's done with this last one, sound good?" the overly grinning doctor said, to which Yagari mechanically nodded as he left from the curtains.

"Well damn, it seems I'm going to be here a _lot_ longer than I thought," Yagari chuckled darkly, his hand reaching to pinch the bridge of his nose as he exhaled tiredly. "This is just great," he mumbled before sinking back against the pillows.

"I'm sorry Toga," Cross tried to offer some support, but knowing there really wasn't much he could say to make his friend feel any better. The hunter didn't say anything but just shrugged his working shoulder as he lay quietly.

* * *

Cross was on about the fourth cup of coffee as he sat in the O.R. waiting room. It had been a little over two hours since he had parted from his friend as they took him to surgery. As tired as he was, he found he just couldn't find any sleep when he was worrying about his friend in the operating room, his son who was struggling with his vampire side, and the threat of the pureblood princess who he suspected was on his school grounds. Cross was thankful he had Kaname to handle that, but still…it seemed like so much had happened in just one night. At least Zero had seemed alright enough when he had left. The ageless hunter was snapped out of his thoughts as a nurse came through the entrance and motioned for him.

"Your friend went through the surgery fine and they were able to repair his shoulder," the young woman told him with a warm smile. "He's waking up now…you can see him if you would like," she said, to which Cross nodded as he began to follow her. "I have to warn you though, he's pretty out of it from the anesthesia," she laughed softly, a grin forming on Cross's face as he thought of how reserved and level headed the hunter usually was.

Finally she brought the blond ex-hunter to a section of the hospital that looked a lot like the ER, except a lot quieter. The lights weren't as bright as she pulled back another set of curtains, revealing a nurse draping another blanket over his seemingly asleep comrade. Even though Cross knew he was fine, he didn't like seeing his friend with even more attachments on his body and looking so weak. "He's alright, I promise," the friendly young nurse said as she noticed Cross's worried expression. "He can go home as soon as he's back in his head again," she grinned softly before leading him to the bedside. Cross thought for a moment of dragging the other Kiryu twin here and asking him if he thought his teacher didn't think of him as a student now, but being angry wasn't going to help anything. "Mr. Yagari, your friend's here to see you," the ginger haired nurse said while softly patting the hunter's shoulder that wasn't bound up with an ice pack over it.

Slowly the hunter's single eye creaked open as he sluggishly turned his head, his eye blinking slowly and squinting against the light.

"Your friend's here," she said softly again, her hand pulling Cross closer as the hunter's bleary eye searched around rather confusedly until it found the blond man's face.

"Hi…friend," the raven haired man's voice croaked as he stared blankly at Cross with a half open eye.

"Good to see you again Toga," the older man said with a soft smile as he patted the hunter's good shoulder.

The delirious hunter turned his head slowly to search the room before coming back to focus hazily on Cross. "You…you're…Cross…right?" Yagari said slowly, his eye narrowed as if he were still debating on who the blond man was.

"Yep, that's me," the headmaster had to keep himself from chuckling from the state his friend was in. One of the nurses had since gotten the older man a chair to sit next to the bed in as they left the two alone.

"Oh. Ok. That's good," the hunter's deep voice slurred slightly. "Am I in trouble?" the hunter asked with a wide blue eye suddenly as he turned his head to Cross.

The blond once again had to stifle a laugh at the childlike look in his usually gruff friend's face. "Why would you be in trouble Toga?" Cross asked while trying to seem serious for the sake of his delusional partner.

"I think I'm drunk…and…I don't know those…blue people," the younger hunter trailed off as his eye continued to look around. Part of Cross wished that Zero could hear half of the stuff that was coming out of Yagari's mouth right about now, but he knew that's wasn't very fair to the hunter himself. Right about that time one of the blue scrubbed nurses peeked in, with which the drugged hunter turned to Cross and said, "Those blue people…keep looking at me funny. Are they cops?". Both Cross and the nurse couldn't stop the giggles that escaped them at that last question.

"No, they're not cops and they aren't mad at you," Cross said as he squeezed his friend's arm.

"Oh, ok," the hunter replied still dazed, the nurse disappearing again. "This hat…bothers me sometimes," the younger man said as he reached up to pull at the oxygen tube that was threaded across his face.

"No, no…you have to leave that alone," Cross said gently as he caught his friend's hand.

"But I can't breathe," Yagari said innocently.

"Yes you can. It's just um…it's really not there," Cross thought up, hoping his idea would work.

"It's not?" the hunter asked wide eyed as his arm relaxed.

"Nope," Cross grinned, glad he wasn't putting up a fight.

"Really?"

"Uh huh,"

"Oh…well that's good," Yagari said blankly, Cross still not believing the conversation he was having with his life long friend was real. "I think…I think I swallowed a cigarette," the hunter's hoarse voice said so calmly. Of course the blond couldn't hold back a snort from that.

"Wh…why do think that Toga?" he laughed softly, taking off his glasses to wipe a few tears from his eyes as he fought not to explode in a laughing fit.

"My throat hurts," the younger hunter said as he traced one of the many wires that were connected to him.

"Well, you did have a tube down your throat," Cross said as he squeezed the hunter's hand.

"Really?" Yagari asked, his eye wide in surprise…before his lid drooped and his head lolled to the side. "I'm…taking a…nap," he mumbled as Cross shook his head.

"No Toga, come on, you need to wake up," Cross sighed with a grin as he lightly shook the man's uninjured arm. "Can you tell me who you are Toga?" Cross asked as the hunter opened his eye again.

"I…I'm…I can't…know," he stammered out drunkenly.

"Do you know who the top ranked vampire hunter is?" Cross asked with a sly smile on his face.

"Somebody…good?" the hunter said with childlike innocence.

"That's right…that's you Toga," Cross said, admitting to himself that he was having way too much fun with his awfully high friend right about now.

The poor man looked stunned as his tube taped hand pointed to himself. "Me?" Cross nodded while laughing into his hand. "So…that means I'm Toga Yagari," the hunter said oblivious, Cross's sides aching from having to hold in his laughter. "But…if I'm Yagari then that means…Ichiru…hates me," Yagari's voice deflated and Cross's amusement instantly died. "He thinks…I don't care…I…I did something wrong to…make him so…hurt," the hunter said pitifully as he looked at Cross with a broken eye. The blond felt his heart fall to his feet as his friend lay so vulnerable and exposed, his blue eye beginning to grow misty. The headmaster knew that drugs did play a part, since he had never EVER seen Toga Yagari cry nor did he ever think he would again once the man was in his right frame of mind. But the kind elder hunter knew very well that the pain his one eyed partner was feeling was very real and very deep. He knew Toga loved those two boys as if they were his own sons even if he would never admit it, and to have one think otherwise cut the raven haired hunter to the bone.

"No…you haven't hurt anyone," Cross said gently said while taking the hunter's hand in his own. Even if acting so "motherly" toward the usually hard hunter was as strange as strange could get, right now his friend was hurting and Kaien Cross would do anything to make that stop. "Ichiru is just…confused," Cross smiled softly while patting the other's arm.

"You sure?" the hunter asked as a single tear trickled from his red rimmed eye.

"I'm very sure," the elder hunter said while reaching and wiping the crystalline drop away.

Yagari seemed to relax somewhat as he inhaled deeply. "Hey…you're still Cross right?" he asked while turning his head toward the older man.

"I am," the ex-hunter laughed softly.

"Good, because… you're my friend and…I'm your friend…right?" the raven haired hunter's eye looked expectantly at Cross, who felt touched beyond words…even if what his friend had just said was drug induced.

"Always".

For the first time since Cross had known the younger hunter, a ridiculous smile graced the usually stern face of Yagari. In fact Cross was still in shock as the delirious hunter began to spout nonsense again. "Hey Cross…I think they took my arm…I can't feel it," the hunter shook his head with a serious look in his foggy eye, Cross breathing a sigh of relief before chuckling.

"No, your arm is just fine and attached to your body," Cross said before drinking a large gulp of coffee.

"Really?"

"Yes really…"

* * *

After a few hours of sleeping off the anesthesia, Yagari finally woke up to his usual, grumpy self and was released. Granted it was almost six in the morning and both men were utterly exhausted. The only reason Cross stayed awake on the trip home was due to Yagari's constant questioning.

"Why the hell was that nurse in blue scrubs giggling like something stupid while she was taking that damn IV out?" the hunter grumbled from where he reclined in the passenger seat.

"Who knows, maybe she likes you," Cross grinned tiredly, managing to contain himself.

"Hey, did I say a bunch of stupid crap while I was out?" Yagari asked seriously, the apprehension in his voice nearly undoing Cross in a fit of laughter right then and there.

"Of course not," he replied straightly.

"Are you _lying_ Cross?"

"Maybe a little,"

"I swear if you took a video…what the hell did I say?" the hunter sounded horrified.

"Eh, nothing much…you just believed anything I told you…and I might have had fun with that," Cross chuckled.

"Screw you Kaien," he heard Yagari mutter as they pulled onto the gravel road toward home.

As soon as the two got into the house both collapsed in exhaustion; Cross helping his ornery friend into the recliner before passing out on the couch himself. Not long after the front door opened quietly, a silver haired teen who didn't sport a school uniform slowly creeping into the house and quietly into the living room. Yagari's blue eye slowly opened as he felt something tapping his good shoulder lightly, and before he knew it a familiar boy had his arms around him gingerly.

"I'm sorry Master," the boy whispered as the hunter raised his good arm to circle the broken boy, and from the couch, a smile found its way to Kaien Cross's face as he realized maybe everything would turn out ok…at least for a little while.


End file.
